And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.

And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.

And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.

Now it came about in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that certain of the responsible men of Israel came to get directions from the Lord and were seated before me.

Son of man, say to the responsible men of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: Have you come to get directions from me? By my life, says the Lord, you will get no directions from me.

Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:

But they rebelled against me, and refused to listen to me; no one got rid of their detestable idols, nor did they abandon the idols of Egypt. Then I decided to pour out my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

"'Now when I had carried them out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness,

And I give to them My statutes, And my judgments I caused them to know, Which the man who doth -- liveth by them.

Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.

But the children of Israel would not be controlled by me in the waste land: they were not guided by my rules, and they were turned away from my orders, which, if a man does them, will be life to him; and they had no respect for my Sabbaths: then I said that I would let loose my passion on them in the waste land, and put an end to them.

Because they were turned away from my orders, and were not guided by my rules, and had no respect for my Sabbaths: for their hearts went after their images.

And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.

But the children would not be controlled by me; they were not guided by my rules, and they did not keep and do my orders, which, if a man does them, will be life to him; and they had no respect for my Sabbaths: then I said I would let loose my passion on them to give full effect to my wrath against them in the waste land.

And further, I gave them rules which were not good and orders in which there was no life for them;

And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.

Then I said to them, What is this high place where you go to no purpose? And it is named Bamah to this day.

And when you give your offerings, causing your sons to go through the fire, you make yourselves unclean with all your images to this day; and will you come to me for directions, O children of Israel? By my life, says the Lord, you will get no direction from me.

And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.

And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.

And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

and say to the wood toward the south, 'Hear the word of the LORD, thus sayeth the LORD God: Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, that shall consume thee green trees with the dry. No man shall be able to quench his flame, but all that looketh from the south to the north shall be burnt therein.

And all flesh shall see, that I the LORD have kindled it, so that no man may quench it.'"

That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.

"And now, Son of Man, you are to start groaning until you're sick to your stomach. You are to groan bitterly right in front of them.

And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ then say: Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will become weak. Every spirit will be discouraged, and every knee will turn to water. Yes, it is coming and it will happen.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

‘It is sharpened to make a slaughter,
Polished to flash and glimmer like lightning!’

Shall we then rejoice [when such a disaster approaches]? But it rejects and views with contempt the scepter of My son [Judah].

Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.

"Now, Son of Man, prophesy as you strike your hands together. Let the sword that fatally wounds be doubled and tripled. That great, slaughtering sword closes in on them. I've set in place a slaughtering sword at the entrance to all their gates,

so that their hearts melt and the number of those who stumble increase. I've set in place a slaughtering sword at the entrance to all their gates. Oh, no! It's made like lightning. It's drawn to slaughter.

“Now you, son of man, mark out two roads that the sword of Babylon’s king can take. Both of them should originate from the same land. And make a signpost at the fork in the road to each city.

It will seem like a false divination in their eyes, those who have sworn solemn oaths [of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar]. But he will remind them of their guilt [by rebelling and violating their oath], that they may be caught.

"So now, you dishonored and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come in this time of final punishment,

thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Remove the mitre, and take off the crown; this'shall be no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.

I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

“Now prophesy, son of man, and say: This is what the Lord God says concerning the Ammonites and their contempt. You are to proclaim:

A sword! A sword
is drawn for slaughter,
polished to consume, to flash like lightning.

Your vision is to no purpose, your use of secret arts gives a false answer, to put it on the necks of evil-doers who are wounded to death, whose day has come, in the time of the last punishment.

Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.

Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.

Thou hast made thyself guilty in the blood that thou hast shed, and defiled thee in the Idols, which thou hast made. Thou hast caused thy days to draw nigh, and made the time of thy years to come. Therefore will I make thee to be confounded among the heathen, and to be despised in all the lands.

Whether they be nigh or far from thee, they shall laugh thee to scorn; thou that hast gotten thee so foul a name, and art full of mischief.

In you they have had no respect for father and mother; in you they have been cruel to the man from a strange land; in you they have done wrong to the child without a father and to the widow.

“Now look, I clap My hands together against the dishonest profit you have made and against the blood shed among you.

And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.

Son of man, say to her, You are a land on which no rain or thunderstorm has come in the day of wrath.

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one.

Now [as for] their names, the older [was] Oholah, and Oholibah [was] her sister. And {they became mine}, and they bore sons and daughters, and their names [are] Samaria [for] Oholah, and Jerusalem [for] Oholibah

“Now her sister Oholibah saw this, but she was even more depraved in her lust than Oholah, and made her promiscuous acts worse than those of her sister.

Now when the Babylonians came to her, they lay with her, and defiled her with their whoredom, and so was she polluted with them. And when her lust was abated from them,

So I will put an end to your evil ways and your loose behaviour which came from the land of Egypt: and your eyes will never be lifted up to them again, and you will have no more memory of Egypt.

Thou shalt even drink it and drain it out, and thou shalt gnaw the sherds thereof, and shalt tear thy breasts; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Because you have forgotten me, and you threw me behind your back, now in turn you bear your obscene conduct and your whorings."

Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?

And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

Now speak a parable to the rebellious house. Tell them: This is what the Lord God says:

Put the pot on the fire—
put it on,
and then pour water into it!

Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.

I have made myself tired to no purpose: still all the waste which is in her has not come out, it has an evil smell.

In thy filthiness is lewdness, for I have purged thee, and thou art not pure. Thou shalt no more be purged from thy filthiness, till I have satisfied my fury upon thee.

Son of man, see, I am taking away the desire of your eyes by disease: but let there be no sorrow or weeping or drops running from your eyes.

Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.

Like as I have done, so shall ye do also: Ye shall not hide your faces, ye shall eat no mourner's bread;

And your head-dresses will be on your heads and your shoes on your feet: there will be no sorrow or weeping; but you will be wasting away in the punishment of your evil-doing, and you will be looking at one another in wonder.

Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

“‘Son of man, know that on the day I take their stronghold from them, their pride and joy, the delight of their eyes and the longing of their hearts, as well as their sons and daughters,

In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

and say unto the Ammonites, 'Hear the word of the LORD God. Thus sayeth the LORD God: Forsomuch as thou speakest over my Sanctuary, 'Aha,' I trow it be now suspended; and over the land of Israel, I trow it be now desolate; yea, and over the house of Judah, I trow they be now led away prisoners.

And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couchingplace for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

To the children of the east I have given her for a heritage, as well as the children of Ammon, so that there may be no memory of her among the nations:

And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD.

And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.

Now in the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:

And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.

And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

They shall mourn for thee, and say unto thee, 'O thou noble city, that hast been so greatly occupied of old, thou that hast been the strongest upon the sea with thine inhabiters of whom all men stood in fear: How art thou now so utterly destroyed?'

Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.

For thus sayeth the LORD God: when I make thee a desolate city, as other cities be, that no man dwell in, and when I bring the deep upon thee, that great waters may cover thee:

then I will bring you down to be with those who descend to the Pit, to the people of antiquity. I will make you dwell in the underworld like the ancient ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will no longer be inhabited or display your splendor in the land of the living.

I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD.

Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;

‘Now you are shattered by the seas
In the depths of the waters;
Your merchandise and all your crew
Have gone down with you.

‘The merchants among the people hiss at you [with malicious joy];
You have become a horror and a source of terrors.
You will cease to be forever.’”’”

Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.

There has been no evil in your ways from the day when you were made, till sin was seen in you.

All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.

For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.

"O thou son of man, set now face against Pharaoh the king of Egypt: Prophesy against him and against the whole land of Egypt.

And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.